revelation

God's disclosure of his own nature and his purpose for mankind, esp through the words of human intermediaries

something in which such a divine disclosure is contained, such as the Bible

Derived Forms

revelational, adjective

Word Origin

C14: from Church Latin revēlātiō from Latin revēlāre to reveal

Revelation

/ˌrɛvəˈleɪʃən/

noun

1.

(popularly, often pl) Also called the Apocalypse, the Revelation of Saint John the Divine. the last book of the New Testament, containing visionary descriptions of heaven, of conflicts between good and evil, and of the end of the world

revelation

n.

c.1300, "disclosure of information to man by a divine or supernatural agency," from Old French revelacion and directly from Latin revelationem (nominative revelatio), noun of action from past participle stem of revelare "unveil, uncover, lay bare" (see reveal). General meaning "disclosure of facts" is attested from late 14c.; meaning "striking disclosure" is from 1862. As the name of the last book of the New Testament (Revelation of St. John), it is first attested late 14c. (see apocalypse); as simply Revelations, it is first recorded 1690s.

an uncovering, a bringing to light of that which had been previously wholly hidden or only obscurely seen. God has been pleased in various ways and at different times (Heb. 1:1) to make a supernatural revelation of himself and his purposes and plans, which, under the guidance of his Spirit, has been committed to writing. (See WORD OF GOD.) The Scriptures are not merely the "record" of revelation; they are the revelation itself in a written form, in order to the accurate presevation and propagation of the truth. Revelation and inspiration differ. Revelation is the supernatural communication of truth to the mind; inspiration (q.v.) secures to the teacher or writer infallibility in communicating that truth to others. It renders its subject the spokesman or prophet of God in such a sense that everything he asserts to be true, whether fact or doctrine or moral principle, is true, infallibly true.